Crowds of bewildered people gathered on Pakistan’s southern coast to witness the emergence of a new island created following a major earthquake in the region.

The 7.8 magnitude quake struck 145 miles southeast of Dalbandin in Pakistan's quake-prone province of Baluchistan, which borders Iran, on Tuesday.

The earthquake was so powerful that it caused the seabed to rise and create a small, mountain-like island about 600 meters off Pakistan's Gwadar coastline in the Arabian Sea.

Dead fish have been spotted floating on the surface of the waters surrounding the island and visitors have heard hissing noises from the escaping toxic gas

Television channels showed images of a stretch of rocky terrain rising above the sea level, with crowds surrounding the shore to witness the rare phenomenon.

Zahid Rafi, principal seismologist for the National Seismic Monitoring Center, said such masses are sometimes created by the movement of gases locked in the earth under the sea, pushing mud and earth up to the surface in something akin to a mud volcano.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

'When such a strong earthquake builds pressure, there is the likelihood of such islands emerging,' he said. 'That big shock beneath the earth causes a lot of disturbance.'

This liquefaction of sand layers takes
place after any earthquake, but these sudden islands are usually only
spotted after strong earthquakes, at least 7- or 8-magnitude events.

An aerial view of the island taken soon after it formed. The life of this island is likely to be short, according to Nasa. The underground pocket of gas will cool, compress, or escape over time, allowing the crust to collapse and settle back down

Such masses are sometimes created by the movement of gases locked in the earth under the sea, pushing mud and earth up to the surface in something akin to a mud volcano

Waves, storms, and tidal action from the Arabian Sea will wash away the loose sand, soft clay, and mud on the island

HOW THE ISLAND WAS FORMED

Scientists believe the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which struck 145 miles southeast of Dalbandin in Baluchistan, triggered what is known as 'mud volcano'.

They occur where there is a reservoir of
loosely compacted sediments buried beneath harder, denser rock and a
path is made to the surface.

The seismic waves caused a movement of gases locked in the earth under the sea, pushing mud and earth up to the surface along with gas.

These sudden islands are usually only
spotted after strong earthquakes, at least 7- or 8-magnitude events.

Richard Luckett a seismologist the British Geological Survey said that these mud volcanoes are relatively common in this area on both land and at sea.

‘They occur where there is a reservoir of loosely compacted sediments buried beneath harder, denser rock and a path is made to the surface,’ he told MailOnline.

‘There is a subducting plate boundary in this region where the Arabian plate is converging on the Eurasian plate at about 2cm a year and being pushed beneath it.

‘This is the same plate boundary responsible for the magnitude 7.7 earthquake.’

Scientists believe gases associated with the melting at the plate boundary contribute to heating the mud in the reservoirs and making it more fluid.

‘Certainly mud volcanoes are most common near this type of plate boundary, such as in Japan,’ said Dr Luckett.

‘It is known that mud volcanoes can be triggered by large nearby earthquakes – in fact the same thing happened in this area in 2001.

‘The exact mechanism for this triggering is poorly understood but the fact that mud volcanoes often occur without a triggering earthquake suggests that little extra impetus is required.’

To get a better idea of what the island is made of and how permanent it is, scientists will have to get samples of the material to see if it's mostly soft mud or rocks and harder material.

These types of islands can remain for a long time or eventually subside back into the ocean, depending on their makeup.

Dozens of people had already visited the island despite concerns over toxic gas

Such land masses have appeared before off Pakistan's Makran coast, said Muhammed Arshad, a hydrographer with the navy. After quakes in 1999 and 2010, new land masses rose up along a different part of the coast about 282 kilometers (175 miles) east of Gwadar, he said.

He said each of those disappeared back into the sea within a year during the monsoon season, a period of heavy rain and wind that sweeps Pakistan every summer. He said that in the area where the island was created on Tuesday, the sea is only about six to seven meters (23 feet) deep.

Older residents of the coastal town recalled an earthquake in 1968 produced an island that stayed for one year and then vanished.